A Symbol of Pride: Rainbow Flag Designer Gilbert Baker
In 1978, Gilbert Baker, a drag queen and community activist in San Francisco, responded to his friend Harvey Milk's assertion that the gay rights movement needed a new symbol. The pink triangle had been in use but was connected to the atrocities of the Holocaust, and the movement needed something uplifting to replace it. Using his creativity, his sewing skills, many many volunteers and even more fabric dye, Baker designed and produced the Rainbow Flag- or Gay Pride Flag- that we know today.
Baker with the Rainbow Flag at the Museum of Modern Art, 2015
The Original 8-color Rainbow Flag, San Francisco United Nations Plaza, June 25, 1978. Photo: James McNamara. Courtesy of the artist. Baker is third from the left "in satin pajamas with my long hair."
In this interview, he chats with TPR Founder Jess Van Nostrand about the flag's first showing in 1978 and many of the interesting things that have happened since.